Book

Description

It is a major responsibility of the national governments to protect their country’s interests and sovereignty over their territory. They are required, as part of their security responsibilities, to impose restrictions on their borders and to try to defend the state against threats. But, since the internet facilitated the flow of data and information between transnational parties, states face new and modern methods of border penetration that threaten their safety and well-being. Although the security of the state’s borders is a competence of its security authorities and army divisions, the judiciary plays an essential part also. For example, the national courts have developed legal mechanisms, harmonizing with the existing laws, to secure these borders from threats. Although these mechanisms are little technical when compared to the extraordinary level of technology prevailing in cyberspace, they, nonetheless, manifest the efforts exerted by the national judiciary in that sphere. This approach enhances law enforcement officials' skills in cyberspace, making them capable of countering the advanced harmful activities hidden behind the ambiguous nature of cyberspace. The research is built on the analysis of the Western judiciaries' (the US and the UK) practice in settling cyber disputes which reveals the significant progress that occurred. By comparison, one cannot say the same of the Egyptian judicial system, where there are obvious shortcomings regarding cyber disputes, namely, the lack of relevant legislation, the inability of law enforcement officers to deal with cyber cases, and the absence of a comprehensive law case archiving system. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of key Western jurisdictions to establish a model for the Egyptian judiciary to consider concerning cyber litigations.